How Underwear-Hidden Bullets Led to the Capture of UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder Suspect Luigi Mangione

Luigi Mangione was apprehended at a Pennsylvania McDonald's, approximately 370 kilometers west of Manhattan.

Shortly after Luigi Mangione was placed in handcuffs at a Pennsylvania McDonald's, a police officer discovered a loaded gun magazine wrapped in underwear while searching his backpack.

This finding, detailed in court on Monday as Mangione contests the admissibility of evidence in his New York murder case, convinced Altoona, Pennsylvania police that they had captured the suspect wanted for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan five days earlier.

"It's him, dude. It's him, 100%," an officer exclaimed on body-worn camera footage from Mangione's December 9, 2024 arrest, as Officer Christy Wasser held up the magazine discovered in the bag.

Wasser, a 19-year veteran of the Altoona police force, testified on the fourth day of a pretrial hearing where Mangione's defense team sought to exclude the magazine and other evidence from being used against him, including a 9 mm handgun and a notebook found during a subsequent search.

The testimony illuminated the crucial moments following Mangione's identification at McDonald's and the sometimes unconventional procedures officers employed in gathering evidence linking him to the crime.

Mangione's attorneys argue that these items should be inadmissible because police lacked a search warrant and proper grounds for conducting a warrantless search. Prosecutors maintain that the search was lawful and that police eventually obtained a warrant.

Officer Wasser, testifying in full uniform, explained that Altoona police protocols require immediate searches of a suspect's belongings upon arrest, partly to identify dangerous items.

In body-worn camera footage played in court, Wasser was heard expressing concern about checking the bag for explosive devices before removing it from the restaurant. Despite this stated concern, she acknowledged during testimony that police never evacuated customers or staff from the premises.

Mangione, 27, has entered not guilty pleas to both state and federal murder charges. He appeared to be in good physical condition on Monday, gesturing to photographers and conversing with his legal team as testimony continued.

The hearing, which had been delayed on Friday due to Mangione's apparent illness, pertains only to the state case. His defense team is pursuing similar motions to exclude evidence in his federal case, where prosecutors are seeking capital punishment.

Prosecutors have stated that the handgun recovered from the backpack matches the weapon used in the killing and that writings in the notebook revealed Mangione's animosity toward health insurers and plans to assassinate a CEO at an investor conference.

Thompson, 50, was fatally shot while walking to a Manhattan hotel for his company's investor conference on December 4, 2024. Surveillance footage captured a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Authorities report that the words "delay," "deny" and "depose" were inscribed on the ammunition, echoing terminology used to describe insurers' tactics for avoiding claim payments.

Mangione was arrested in Altoona after local police received a 911 call reporting a McDonald's customer who resembled the suspect.

Wasser testified that she arrived at the McDonald's independently to assist Officer Joseph Detwiler. She mentioned having previously seen some news coverage of Thompson's murder on Fox News, including surveillance footage of the shooting and images of the suspected perpetrator.

Wasser began examining Mangione's belongings as officers took him into custody on initial charges of forgery and false identification, after he admitted providing them with fraudulent identification. The same alias was reportedly used by the alleged shooter at a Manhattan hostel days before the murder.

By this point, Mangione had been handcuffed, informed of his right to remain silent—which he invoked—when questioned about potentially concerning items in his bag.

Wasser informed another officer of her intention to inspect the bag for explosive devices before leaving the restaurant, citing a previous incident where an Altoona officer had unknowingly transported a bomb to the police station.

"Did you call the bomb squad?" inquired Mangione's attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo.

"No. I didn't find a bomb yet," Wasser responded.

According to body-camera footage, Wasser initially found harmless items: a sandwich, bread, and a smaller bag containing a passport, mobile phone, and computer chip.

She then extracted a pair of gray underwear, unfolding them to reveal the magazine inside.

Confident there was no explosive device, she temporarily halted her search and returned some items to the bag. Certain evidence, including Mangione's laptop, was transported to the police station in a McDonald's paper takeout bag, as shown in body-camera footage.

Wasser resumed searching after an 11-minute drive to the station and almost immediately discovered the gun and silencer—the latter prompting her to laugh and say "nice," according to the recorded footage. Wasser explained that the firearm was located in a side pocket she hadn't examined at McDonald's.

Later, while cataloging the bag's contents during an inventory search, she found the notebook and additional notes, including what appeared to be to-do lists and potential escape plans.

"Isn't it awesome?" Wasser remarked at one point during the search, according to the body-camera recording.

When asked to explain this comment, she told Friedman Agnifilo that she felt pride in her department's role in apprehending Thompson's suspected killer.

A Blair County, Pennsylvania prosecutor testified that a judge later approved a search warrant for the bag several hours after the searches were completed. The warrant, she explained, provided legal authorization for Altoona police to transfer the evidence to New York City detectives investigating Thompson's murder.

As he has throughout the proceedings, Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann characterized Thompson's killing as an "execution" and referred to the notebook as a "manifesto"—terminology that Mangione's attorneys criticized as prejudicial and inappropriate.

Judge Gregory Carro stated that the wording had "no bearing" on him, but cautioned Seidemann that he's "certainly not going to do that at trial" when jurors are present.